


Where is Everything?

by Booked_Painter



Category: Titanfall
Genre: Bad Flashbacks, Comforting, Gen, Missions Gone Wrong, Sneaking Around, its been so long how do i tag things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 03:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11959002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Booked_Painter/pseuds/Booked_Painter
Summary: Jack and BT are on a planet shrouded in darkness to infiltrate and destroy an IMC radio station. What they don't realize is that there's a lot more trouble hidden in the darkness than you'd be able to see.





	Where is Everything?

Jack looked up to the skies above him, scanning around. The light from his helmet shone softly in the darkness. Beneath him, he could hear the sound of BT’s servos turning ever so slowly, careful from making too much noise. All around the pair, was dense jungle. But more than that, a shroud of mist was flowing into their area as well.

“BT, see anything?” Jack asked, hopping down from the titan’s chassis, onto the ground below. His grip on his gun tightened.

“Negative, my sensors do not detect any hostile life forms.” That breathes a relieved sigh out of him, “But the enemy could be using a technologically advanced cloaking device.”

That causes a sharp intake of breath, as Jack tensed up again. This mission was a lot more trouble than he originally thought. Well, not that any mission he goes on is ever fine. He took a few steps away from the titan, squinting into the darkness.

Then, a sudden warmth flowed through him, “There is no need for that attitude, pilot.”

“If you say so,” Jack chuckled nervously, “Where do we head from here?”

“The provided data indicates that the IMC base is southeast of our current position. Specifics are unknown,” BT explained, though he had to admit it was rather vague.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

Jack went ahead of the titan, cutting down the thick vegetation. Though, he could barely see anything, even with night vision. The fog was getting thicker, and that was _not_ a good sign. Though, it could prove to be useful on this infiltration mission.

The briefing was quick. Get in, set charges, get out. Perhaps it had been a bit more complicated than that, but Jack couldn’t get himself to pay enough attention. Other than that, all he knew was it was mostly just a communications center, where they relay information to all the important places.

“Light..?” He murmured to himself, seeing something glow in the distance. He looked back behind him, BT was lagging behind. Sure, he didn’t _need_ to bring the titan, but he felt like he had to. He hadn’t gone anywhere without him yet, why break the streak now?

 

“Cooper, get down!” BT commanded through the comms, and he dove for a bush. Then, came gunshots where he once stood.

“Man, what was that?” He listened as someone asked.

“Probably those weird, aliens that hang around here,” Someone else responded.

Someone walked into his view, and crouched down to the ground, inspecting his footprints. “Doesn’t look it,”

Before any of the others could ask again, he needed to cover up his tracks. He lunged out of the bushes at the crouched figure, pushing them into a different set of brambles. They struggled beneath him, but he pulled out his dataknife and stabbed them.

“The fuck was that?!”

“I told you!” One shouted “I watched another one of those things snag Geoff!”

That almost made Jack laugh, it was so dark they couldn’t tell the difference. Whirling around, he blindly shot at them. It caused them to panic, and shoot around blindly as well. But as he reloaded, he listened as an even louder gun shot at them. Everything fell silent.

“Pilot, state your status.”

Seeing the titan stand over the fallen soldiers, it made him smile. “I’m fine, BT. Thanks for taking care of them.”

“It is no problem.” The titan responded, watching him closely as he exited the brambles. “Although I am unsure if what I did constitutes as, ‘care’.”

“I know, BT.” He laughed. “It really doesn’t.”

The titan’s datacore zoomed in on his face, clearly unimpressed. Though it only served to make him laugh a bit more. “So, what were those guys? Scouts?”

“A patrol group. Which indicates that we are close to our destination,” BT concluded, looking off into the distance. Jack simply hummed in response, continuing to move in the direction BT was staring.

 

“Oh boy,” Jack grimaced as he looked over a rock, towards a well hidden IMC base. It looked as if there was once a gigantic crater that led into a cave, and now, there was an IMC base right inside it, protected by overhanging ground.

“There is no need for that expression, Pilot.” BT picked Jack up off the rock, making him look up above the IMC base instead. There was a rather large radio tower, that was placed on top of an area that was overhanging the main base. “That is our objective.”

A lop-sided grin appeared on Jack’s face. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“You were not talking about anything,” BT deadpanned, and he slapped at the titan’s hand.

“You-“ He stopped himself, “ Okay, I was _thinking_ about it. Better?” He faced the titan, arms crossed with a smile on his face.

“Better.”

 

Skirting past the edges of the base, as it turns out, wasn’t that difficult. There were no big search lights, probably because even if there were, it wouldn’t be very effective at keeping them hidden in all this darkness. But, even though he could stand at the edges of the jungle, where there was less vegetation, therefore less struggle, BT could not.

“I could come back to get you,” Jack recommended through the comms. He was a ways ahead of BT now.

“Objection. There is no need for you to slow down just to accompany me.” The titan seemed indignant on his decision, but through the  link, Jack could tell there was _something_ going on. “You are able to complete the mission without me.”

Jack sighed, “Well yeah, but what was the point of me bringing you in the first place if all I’m gonna do it leave you in the dust.”

“I am unaware of the answer. Tell me, Pilot.”

“It’s ‘cause I enjoy being around you..?” He mentally slapped himself for saying it. But, some part of him didn’t regret it either, as a flood of, relief and joy came through the neural link.

BT was silent, but before Jack could ask anything more, “Then, returning to assist me would be… appreciated.”

That made Jack smile, as he trudged back through the thick jungle to where BT was stuck within a bunch of brambles. “Why didn’t you just tell me you were stuck?”

BT seemed a bit sheepish to answer, “I did not want to slow down the process of the mission.”

“Protocol 2, huh?” Jack sighed, “This could’ve ended up slowing us down in the future y’know.”

“I did not think that far.”

“That’s new, and I think it’s ‘cause of me.” Jack barked out laughter, remembering all the times BT had scolded him for not thinking. Never thought he’d be the one doing it.

While he was slashing away at the vegetation with his dataknife, he felt as BT went stiff.

“What’s up, Buddy?” He asked, his voice low.

“I detect multiple life forms headed in our direction.” Then, his datacore swiveled to face somewhere else, “Two separate groups.”

Jack hopped back onto the ground, rifle at the ready. “Fuck, which one’s closer?”

“The group southwest of us,” BT notified, and Jack nodded.

“I’ll be right back, BT.”

 

“It’s just too strange.” Jack stopped behind a tree, as a conversation reached his ears. “How could one of those life forms take out an entire patrol?”

“Maybe it was a big one. That’s what the scanners said.”

“Yeah, but the big part didn’t show up as a living. Breathing. _thing_.” That got him worried. Did their scanners detect him and BT? Is that why they didn’t need huge spotlights? Oh no, he needed to get BT out of there. And, he needed to get rid of that patrol group.

“Caution. Second group is headed for your position,” BT informed Jack, and he moved further away from the patrol. They were getting closer to BT, he had to stop them somehow..!

Jack listened as a scream broke out from the patrol group. He looked back at them, and watched as one of the was picked off by the darkness. They were tackled from one side of the forest, into the other. Similarly to what… _he_ had done?

He concludes that those things were the alien menace in the area, and thanked them in his head. They’d distract the patrol, maybe even get rid of them. Enough time for him to get BT freed.

“BT-“ Jack pulled out his knife, and began cutting the brambles with more fervor than ever before. “We need to get out of here.”

“Affirmative,” BT responded, pulling away at the vegetation with him. While Jack was distracted by knifing every vine in sight, BT wrapped his hands around his chest. Surprised by the sudden action, Jack drops his dataknife, but BT makes no move to retrieve it. Instead, the titan holds him up and begins sprinting through the jungle.

“This is very loud!” Jack exclaimed, trying to get the titan’s attention.

BT simply ignored him, choosing to focus on mowing down the trees in his way. He tried pounding on the titan’s hand, confused and frustrated. That’s when he turned back behind them, to see a miasma of, _blackness_ chasing after them.

“What iS THAT?!” He shouted, hugging at BT’s fingers. Struggling to adjust himself into a safer position.

“Unknown life-forms. Presumably, it is the native species on this planet.” BT explained, moving his hand which was holding Jack, closer to his chest. Past the sound of BT’s stomping, and plants being crushed, he heard the sound of an alarm.

“What’s happening now?! Do they know we’re here??” Jack asked, squinting at his surroundings. He couldn’t make anything out, but the soft lights and the sound of alarms were getting louder. “And where are _we_ heading?!”

 

“We are headed for our objective.” BT comes to a stop, and Jack looks around to see they’ve reached the edges of the jungle once again. But this time, he could see the radio tower through the leaves. But on the ground, he also spotted a number of guards.

“And, they _will_ know we are here.”

BT placed Jack back on the ground, and he took a deep breath. He held his rifle in his grip, and took a glance behind him. The movement in the darkness was barely visible now, but he still needed to worry about it.

Jack cloaked, and walked out of the jungle. He sprinted up behind one of the guards, and reached for his knife- that wasn’t there. Surprised, and in a hurry, his first reaction was to punch the guard as hard as he could.

They’re sent crashing off of the overhang and down to the IMC base below, but with that, his position is revealed. The other guards begin open firing at him, but he slides into cover. Peeking out, he shoots at the lot, taking one out.

That’s when BT comes charging out of the jungle, guns blazing. He had his Expedition loadout, and decides to throw out electric smoke, obscuring their vision even more. Emerging from said smoke, he picks Jack up off the ground.

“As if it wasn’t hard enough to see,” The pilot joked, “What now?”

BT pointed towards the radio tower, “You must place the charges up there, whilst I prime the ones at the base. Marking your HUD.”

“Alright, BT. Ready for a fastball?” He grinned, heart pounding in his chest.

“Ready.” BT responded, taking aim.

 

An ear-splitting _roar_ shook the ground around the two of them. BT still throws Jack, but he’s off target. Sailing through the air, Jack ‘s on a trajectory that’ll lead him past the radio tower. He reached his arm out, he just needed to grab hold..!

CLANG! His one hand wrapped around a part of the radio tower. He pulled himself together, and hugged it as tightly as he could. He was so high up, all he saw was fog and darkness down below. But, he heard gunfire. Looking down, BT was fighting this gigantic _mass_ of a life-form. Then, looking to the IMC base, still blaring alarms, he spots multiple of them attacking it as well.

“BT! You alright?!”

He needed to get this done, fast. He began climbing upwards toward the radio dish. All he needed were a few charges up there, then, he’d jump down. BT’ll catch him. He’ll be fine. But he can’t stop the panic from rising in him, and he could tell a bit of it was from BT as well.

“This creature is over-powering me. I will not be able to place the charges.”

The response almost sent him tumbling off the tower. He knew, that thing was huge. BT won’t be able to handle that much pressure for so long. Jack placed another charge. Just a few more, then he’d drop down, and place the ones at the base.

“Think you can hold strong?”

He felt his own voice shaking, before he felt the whole tower shaking. The creature had tackled BT into it. Jack lost his grip.

“Negative.”

He was falling. The tower was falling with him. He reached towards it. He couldn’t reach it. He _needed_ to reach it. Below was the IMC base, far below. The tower started falling faster than him, and he grabbed onto its side. Now, it was pulling him down. Would he be able to hold on?

“BT!”

The tower’s fall comes to a sudden stop, sending a jolt all along it. Jack almost loses his grip, but holds strong. Now, he was hanging off of it. Reaching up with his other hand, he climbs up. The radio tower was now on its side, right above the IMC cave base. When Jack finally managed to get himself situated on top of it, it begins shaking harder than ever.

“Jack!”

He looked up, and watched that gigantic mass of blackness begin crawling along the radio tower towards him. It’s movements were strange, jerky. A wriggling mass of hell. Jack took a step back, but couldn’t find steady ground. He slipped. He was now on his butt, watching as that thing approached him ever faster.

“Jack, do you trust me?” The titan’s voice rings through his helmet radio.

“You know I do, BT.”

A gigantic explosion reverberates through the air. The radio tower shakes violently, and begins falling again. Falling into the cave that held the IMC base. The creature struggles to hold on, and falls off, unable to keep balanced. While Jack, he made sure his feet faced the ground, and braced for impact.

 

Jack groaned as he opened his eyes. He was lying on top of tons of rubble, and he probably had a few fractured bones here and there. Looking around, he spots the massive creature, dead on the ground nearby. It bled a strange magenta color, and he decided ignoring it would be for the best. But now, looking even further around, he was deep within enemy territory, and terribly injured.

“Jack, state your status.” BT’s voice sounded, scared. Something he’d rarely heard from the titan.

“I’m alive.”

“I am aware,” BT responded, annoyed. But Jack could tell he was relieved. “Patching into your helmet.”

Hearing that, Jack surveyed his surroundings one more, letting BT see what he’d already glossed over. Then, he reached for the rifle on his back. Only to find that it wasn’t there.

“There are no IMC personnel nearby, you are safe,” BT informed him, allowing him to breath out a sigh. “But, there are multiple creatures lurking in your vicinity.”

“Guide me through this one, BT.” Jack moved to hide behind some rubble. Using it as cover, he peeked out. Blending into the darkness, he watched as a gigantic mass slinked around, searching for something. Him probably.

“Jack, marking your HUD for the exit.” He watched as a yellow dot appeared, and it was… a few klicks away. “I will also be heading in that direction.”

“Looks like we’ll both have to go through a lotta trouble.” Jack muttered, running to a different piece of cover. Looking back, the creature was too distracted by something else to notice him.

“Objection. The creatures are centered around your position. Therefore, you must go through much more trouble than I will,” The titan stated, dead serious. “I doubt you will fail.”

“You better recalculate then.” Jack booked it towards the HUD, not caring for if the creature noticed him or not. He stopped when he saw light, and hid behind a wall. There was less rubble in this area, so he was further from the radio tower than he expected.

“Is everyone alright?” He heard someone ask.

“Fuck no! We barely got that thing, and Casey lost her _arm_!” He felt bad for whoever that Casey was. But, that meant they managed to kill one of those monsters. “I-I think it’s still moving!”

There were a few gunshots, followed by screaming. They were too distracted to notice him continue his sprint for the way out of this cavernous area. Turning corners, and hiding from any signs of light, he looked around the darkness.

“You are almost there. Do not give up.” BT’s voice was encouraging, and that made him smile.

He stepped out of cover, “Don’t worry, BT. I won’t.”

A loud growling came from beside him. He felt goose bumps all over, as he turned to face the gigantic mass of a creature. He’d lost his gun, his knife, and his will to live now. He stood still, hoping it only detects movement.

It proceeded to lunge at him, completely holding him down beneath its huge body. With its appendages, its tentacles? Small hands? It wasn’t wet and slimy at least. But it grabbed at him, holding him down. And that’s when a pair of magenta eyes stared into his soul.

He felt something wrap itself around his torso. He blinked, and everything suddenly looked too bright. He looked around, only to see BT holding him. He was about to throw him. And he saw The Ark’s light. No. No no no, not again! He couldn’t lost BT again!

He screamed, and it felt like the world around him stopped moving. Tears were flowing freely from his face, as he hugged the titan’s hand. He couldn’t do this again. Never again. He had BT now, and he can finally appreciate his presence again. Even if it’s just in this moment.

 

Gunshots broke him out of the trance. Screaming and shouting followed soon after. He blinked. His arm was in the thing’s mouth, and he saw razor sharp fangs prepared to bite it off. But it didn’t? He wriggled himself out from beneath the creature, to find someone stood atop it, shooting at it over and over again.

They look up, and he can see they aren’t wearing a helmet or anything. They run up to him, “Are you alright?” they asked.

They hadn’t noticed that he was Militia, but he noticed they seemed to be a relatively innocent radio worker. Not a soldier or a guard.

“I’m… fine. You should go hide.” He said, turning away. “I’ll uh, look for others.”

Before they could say anything else, he ran off. What luck, to get saved by the enemy. He needed to get out of here sooner then. Or else someone else would find him.

 

“Are you alright, Jack?” BT’s voice sounded unsure, as a wave of concern washed over him.

He peeked past a corner, before continuing to sprint. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Your heart rate has increased exponentially,” BT said to him, “And, you were screaming.”

“It was that thing’s fault. Messed with my head or something.” Jack responded, uncomfortable with explaining anything that just happened.

“Recommend you stay away from them, then.” The titan advised, completely serious.

“Ah, yes. Thank you.” He rolled his eyes, stopping to rest.

“I detect sarcasm.”

“Yes you do,” Jack dead-panned, he was getting a bit tired of this. But, it was still comforting to listen to the titan talk. Knowing that he was still, here and alive.

Something changed in the link, BT must’ve noticed his feelings. “If you worry for me, do not be. I will always be here for you, Jack. Trust me.”

Ah, those words again. They still haunt him in his nightmares, but, this was giving them a different meaning. He stopped to rest, sighing in relief. “I trust you, don’t worry.”

“Objection. I will continue to worry about you until you return to me, safely.” BT huffed, unimpressed in some way. “Recommend you practice caution.”

“Only for you, Buddy.” Jack laughed.

 

At this point, he was close to the exit. But honestly, his bones felt even closer to breaking apart under all the pressure he’s been putting on trying to get out of here. He sat on the ground, deep ragged breaths coming out of him. Okay, he was almost there.

The sound of growling came from ahead of him. Opening his eyes, he sees another of the things staring him down. He quickly turns away, not wanting to ever stare into those eyes again. But as he did so, it agitated the thing even more. As it lunged for him, he slid out of the way. The wall he had been behind, was crushed by the sheer speed that thing was going.

He turned back, having fallen on the ground. It was trying to shake off the pain, when something from above fell onto it. It was now trapped, and that was relieving. But it was followed by the ground around him shaking, and everything else falling down around him.

“What’s happening?!” He shouted, forcing himself to run for the exit.

“The creature tackled the cavern wall. It is now collapsing both due to it, and the previous explosions we caused,” BT answered.

Jack slid beneath, and vaulted over rubble, the cave walls gaining on him. That’s when he saw a blue light shining through the fog and the darkness. A surge of determination flows through him, as he continues to sprint. Even as his bones beg him to stop. Even as he can barely carry himself.

 

He doesn’t realize he’d been picked up until BT’s datacore is right in front of his face. He goes limp in BT’s hand, and snuggled into it. This was the kind of comfort he needed after that terrible experience. BT, right here in front of him. Holding him. It was all he needed to calm down.

“Good work, Jack.” BT commended, placing him on his other hand in a sitting position. “We have completed protocol 2. Current objective, wait for extraction.”

Jack sighed as he leaned onto BT for support. “Then you can get protocol 3 all handled when the medics arrive.”

“Affirmative. Hold strong until then.” BT brought Jack closer to his chest, and he felt a warm feeling comfort him. He looked up to the sky above. It was stunning, millions of stars shining down upon them on this dark planet. Below, It looked like the cave, well, caved in on itself. A lot more than they had planned, but something he was proud of nonetheless. Even if the creature had done it, he had a part in it didn't he?

Then, he looked up to the titan cradling him. BT was staring up at the sky as well, absolutely mesmerized. Jack watched as his datacore spun and squinted, examining everything in detail. He also listened as servos spun and worked. BT looked so focused, as if studying the stars themselves was the most important thing in the world. He couldn’t describe the titan in any words.

“You look so beautiful,” Jack mumbled mostly to himself, as he gazed at the titan.

BT was silent, as he looked down at Jack. But then, he simply turned back to stare at the skies. “Yes, the stars _are_ beautiful.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, the titan hadn’t heard exactly what he said

“Thank goodness.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudos or a comment if you enjoyed! Feedback and criticism are very welcome. Alternatively, tell me if I'm missing any tags, or if I should add/change certain ones! It helps a lot. Thank you!!
> 
> Wow, I haven't written anything about these two in a while! I absolutely apologize for that, because I am a very easily distracted person in a time that's rather busy. This certainly isn't my best fic, but I just had to get some content out! Hopefully I will write more about them, though I can't guarantee that it will be posted any time soon. I've got plenty of ideas lying around, so expect more in the future! I absolutely love this community and the game seems to be headed for an alright place at this time. 
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading, and have a good day/night/time!


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